Former Fás director general Rody Molloy has apologised to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for failing to appear before it last week, and accepted that "some mistakes were made" during his stewardship of the State agency.
Mr Molloy, who stepped down last week amid controversy over the spending of €643,000 by Fás officials over four years on transatlantic travel, appeared before the committee to answer questions about a special audit report into matters at the corporate affairs division, and other spending matters.
PAC chairman Bernard Allen last week criticised Mr Molloy for failing to appear before the inquiry, claiming it was unacceptable for highly paid public servants to think they could "ride away into the sunset".
Mr Molloy apologised today, explaining that he had failed to show up because he had resigned and was no longer accounting officer at Fás. He added that he believed he had not been invited to attend.
Mr Molloy said he knew his position at Fás was untenable after his "ill-judged" interview with RTÉ's Pat Kenny in which he defended spending by Fás executives and being "entitled" to first class travel to the US.
The following days were "traumatic" and his home was "besieged" by certain elements of the media, he said today.
"I was proud to lead Fás for eight years," Mr Molloy told the committee. "I never ceased to be amazed at the dedication and commitment of the staff of Fás to deliver important services to the community they tried to serve. I believe I made a contribution to continuously improving that service."
However, he accepted he "made some mistakes along the way".
Mr Molloy told the committee he understood the class of foreign travel he undertook was "in order and in line with public service guidelines". He now accepts in hindsight that it was "not appropriate".
Fás chairman Peter McLoone assured the committee that the agency was “plugging the leaks” that gave rise to the problems outlined in the special audit inquiry into expenditures by the Corporate Affairs division in the period 2000 to 2004.
Committee member Roisin Shortall of the Labour Party criticised Mr Molloy for the level of foreign travel he and former colleague Gerry Pyke had undertaken.
She said Mr Molloy had been on "16 major trips" in three and a half years, to locations including Orlando, New Zealand, Helsinki and New York.
"How on earth could you have done your job when you were away to that extent?" she asked.
Mr Molloy said it was part of his role in terms of representing Fás that he was expected to interact with other major organisations and to go on such trips. He said a "significant number" of the trips were with ministers.
"I think people who know me would say it's difficult to get me to travel," he said, adding that he had a problem with flying.
Ms Shortall alleged both Mr Molloy and Mr Pyke were in breach of travel policy outlined by the Department of Finance and that they had incurred "substantial expense for the taxpayer".
Mr McLoone said he accepted there had been "extensive travel" in the period concerned but he had not been aware of it as the board did not conduct a "look-back" after its appointment in 2006.
Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley told the committee that engagement by the committee with Fás management had been "substantially completed". He said that as an independent officer, he would set the terms of his own investigation into Fas himself.
Broadly speaking, it would include examination of issues such as internal control in Fás, and in particular the areas of corporate affairs, procurement and the finance department.
He would also look at control and governance to ensure that both conform with public norms in how it achieves its goals. Mr Buckley said he would also specifically examine arrangements in place within Fás for marketing and advertising, and would look at how breaches of procedures are dealt with.
"In general, the focus of the report will be on the lessons that might be learned," he said.
The committee also heard today there are two separate Garda investigations into matters at Fás. Assistant director general Christy Cooney said the first of these was in relation to alleged "invoice overcharging" arising out of the internal audit report INV137 into matters at the corporate affairs division.
The second investigation related to another matter that arose as a result of an audit into the corporate affairs section earlier this year, and which had to be passed on to the Garda, Mr Cooney said.
A third area of concern, that was not the subject of a Garda inquiry, was also under investigation, Mr Cooney said under questioning from committee members.
He said the director of internal audit had asked Fás director of corporate affairs Greg Craig to meet him to discuss that matter.